batman

So the dirty is this: another straight to DVD market animated film from Warner Brothers DC Universe, following the success of Batman: The Killing Joke is ready for release and there's a brand new trailer to tell you about it....

The LEGO Movie was a revelation when it hit theaters two years ago. A fun film with a hearty message, it featured a breakout performance from Will Arnett's Batman. Now with a spin-off set in motion, we haven't heard much of t...

Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie--officially titled The Batman--should be getting underway soon. We know that hunky Joe Manganiello will play Deeathstroke in the film, but everything else is unknown at the moment.
Adam West, t...

A while back we reported that J. K. Simmons was cast as Commissioner Gordon in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Principle photography has reached the homestretch in the reportedly hopeful and optimistic superhero film, and Snyde...

Zack Snyder is in the homestretch of principle photography on Justice League, which comes out next year. Ben Affleck recently wrapped filming and will likely move on to his solo Batman movie, which will pit the Dark Knight against hunky Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke. As a tease of what's to come, Zack Snyder took to Twitter and released an image of a new Batman suit.
Here's Zack Snyder's tweet:

By all accounts, Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe, now three movies in, has struggled to find the same kind of critical footing as Marvel Studios' Cinematic Universe. Since its debut in 2012's Man of Steel, DC flicks have b...

You may recall news last week that Deathstroke will be the villain in Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie. This lead many people to wonder who would be cast as Slade Wilson.
It was confirmed yesterday that hunky Joe Manganiello h...

After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ben Affleck signed on to write and direct his own Batman movie. We had a little bit of April Fool's fun speculating about who the villain would be, but until today, that remained a my...

I'm pretty sure very few people under the age of 50 became fans of Batman through the old Adam West Batman TV show, but that's how I did. Reruns on some random channel at some random time were some of my favorite things ...

Suicide Squad is ramping up promotions as we near its August 5 release date. As part of that effort, Warner brothers unleashed a new three minute-plus trailer featuring increased roles for several characters (notably, Will Sm...

After The LEGO Movie pleasantly surprised, it naturally led to a number of planned sequels and spin-offs. With the actual follow up to the LEGO Movie not hitting theaters until 2019, our first taste is a spin-off featuri...

The Flash, you kidderBig things happening today for the DC Cinematic Universe. In addition to the Wonder Woman trailer at San Diego Comic-Con, here's your first taste of Zack Snyder's Justice League movie. It seems goofier and more lighthearted t...

Batman: The Killing Joke is already notorious as a comic book, but now it's landing in the world of animated Batman and it will probably become notorious again. It's R-rated and one of the more disturbing Batman tales ev...

While Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has made around $870 million worldwide, it's been considered a disappointment for Warner Bros. By comparison, Captain America: Civil War has already made $957 million worldwide in two ...

DC Comics unveiled a brand new logo to coincide with big Rebirth event this summer, which pretty much looks like a mea culpa for that New 52 stuff from a few years ago. The comic is an 80-page one-shot written by Geoff Johns ...

The trailer for Batman: The Killing Joke has been released and set the stage for a true-to-graphic-novel adaptation.
This is the first time a DC Comics movie will be R-rated a fact which is actually not attributable...

It was easy to poke fun at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for our April Fool's Day shenanigans this year, given its divisive nature across the internet. While the jokes increased in wackiness as the day went on, it s...

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would inevitably drop to second place at the box office--such is the law of diminishing returns--yet who would have predicted that Melissa McCarthy's The Boss would knock the boys out? The B...

Remember the MTV Movie Awards? WB/DC sure hopes you did! Capitalizing on that all so precious 18-24 demographic (and most likely younger given MTV) is the newest trailer for Suicide Squad. It's got a better handle on itself a...

Even though Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has crossed the $700 million mark worldwide, analysts have suggested that the film could be a box office disappointment regardless. The movie's budget and marketing costs mean th...

After setting major records during its opening weekend with $420 million worldwide, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had a rough second week. The film suffered a second-week drop of 68.4%. Most movies experience a drop in w...

More major news from DC's cinematic universe as Warner Bros. is using April 1st to make major announcements. Earlier we reported that Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie is moving forward and, more importantly, George Miller has ...

News is unfolding fast out of Warner Bros. and DC as they're ramping up their cinematic universe. Ben Affleck's solo Batman film was just greenlit, and George Miller has replaced Zack Snyder on Justice League. In major castin...

Everything isn't all rose petals in the DC/Warner Bros. camp right now. Despite Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice amassing over $400 million in its first week, the critical reviews of the film have definitely hurt box office...

Even though I really didn't like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I'll admit that Ben Affleck did a decent job as Bruce Wayne/Batman in spite of the material he was working with. There's been talk that Affleck is working w...

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is divisive, garnering harsh reviews (e.g., our negative take on the film) as well as splitting fan reaction. Still, Zack Snyder's film made a lot of money in its opening weekend. It's ...

Are you ready for a second LEGO Batman trailer? Of course you are. By the time this movie comes out you're going to want to have seen the entire thing in trailer form. This one is a bit more of a clip than a trailer, but...

Mar 28 //
Hubert Vigilla
In the climactic final battle of Batman v Superman, the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight set aside their differences because their mothers have the same first name. (Yes, it's silly, I know.) These BFFs now have to do battle with Doomsday, who was created by Lex Luthor because of some flimsy third-act motivation. Wonder Woman shows up to help out, having spent most of the movie as a side character who appears at high society gatherings. Why does she do this? The screenwriters really don't care and instead distract you with wanton violence and revealing evening wear.
Wonder Woman is a highly capable warrior. She dukes it out with Doomsday like a Greek hero of old. All grace and aplomb, she barely breaks a sweat. When Doomsday hits her halfway across an uninhabited island, Wonder Woman gets up, grins, and then goes back to fighting. She's unfazed, and she even relishes the challenge before her. Finally, after two hours of watching brooding dudes brood, we see a superhero who likes being heroic and acts like a superhero.
Doomsday is only weak against kryptonite, and Batman has used most of his kryptonite gas bombs in his fight with Superman. The last bit of kryptonite is a kryptonite spear that Batman made. Lois Lane nearly drowns trying to retrieve the spear from the bottom of a pool, though how she knows Doomsday is weak against kryptonite is anyone's guess since she's not in the thick of battle. (She also threw the spear in the pool earlier. Whoops. Yeah, it's silly.) Superman saves Lois Lane and gets the spear. While Wonder Woman has Doomsday restrained with her lasso, Superman charges at Doomsday, stabs him with the spear, but gets stabbed back in the process.
Superman dies.
If you're like me, your're probably asking this: Why didn't Superman ask Wonder Woman to use the kryptonite spear? (You're also probably asking why they'd kill off Superman in just his second movie. Yeah, it's silly.)
Given, Superman in these Snyder DC movies is a big, dumb meathead, but surely he saw how Wonder Woman was able to go toe-to-toe with Doomsday and not get hurt much. Surely he noticed she has melee weapon training using a sword and a shield; she even chopped off one of Doomsday's arms. Most importantly, she looks like she's not weak against kryptonite. Superman, by contrast, holds that kryptonite spear with a look on his face that says, "I think I have food poisoning."
It just makes sense for Superman to take 10 seconds and say, "Hey, this spear tip is that monster's only weakness. I'll hold this lasso while you go kill him. Thanks. I'm Clark, by the way." But no, instead he decides to sacrifice his life for the planet because Jesus complex. What a perfect movie for Easter weekend.
Or, alternatively, Superman could have also thrown the spear.
But again, Superman is a dummy in these movies, which makes sense since it seems like Snyder and his screenwriters kind of hate Superman. They love Batman the homicidal maniac, though.
The way Wonder Woman is semi-sidelined in this fight seems totally shortsighted on the part of her brothers in arms (and the screenwriters), but it's par for the course if you're a female character in Batman v Superman. For the most part they're props that help move the plot along. Lois Lane is a constant damsel in distress. She's pretty much helpless any time she gets into trouble, and always relies on Superman for help rather than being able to do anything herself.
Part of the reason that Batman and Superman fight each other is because Lex Luthor has kidnapped Clark's mom. Superman saves Lois Lane every time he hears her in trouble, but for some reason he doesn't hear his own mom getting kidnapped by goons in SUVs. Keep in mind that this is the same Superman who went into a murderous rage in Man of Steel when Zod threatened his mom and he heard her scream from halfway across the country. (Yeah, it's silly.) Here's another damsel in distress. In Batman v Superman, women typically have to be saved rather than do any saving themselves.
So Wonder Woman shows up and her first act in full costume is to save Batman from being burnt to a crisp. She then proceeds to outclass the boys in the combat department. She's so good at what she does that Max Landis will probably put out a video calling her a Mary Sue this week. If Superman gave Wonder Woman that spear, it seems like she would deal the deathblow to Doomsday in 15 seconds and do it like she's Legolas in Lord of the Rings.
But no. She's maybe the most heroic person in the movie, but she can't be the person who saves the day. To be fair, Wonder Woman doesn't have her name in the title, but still, you know what I'm getting at. Batman v Superman is a movie about men so obsessed with the glory of their blunt violence that they can't even think straight for a second. Superman wants to hold his spear until the bitter end rather than let a girl hold it. Come to think of it, a man dumbly holding his spear is probably the best image I can think of to represent this movie.

Wonder Woman v MeatheadsIf you read our review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, you know I didn't like the movie. There were many problems with structure and pacing, and while the performances were generally good for what they were, I didn't l...

Mar 28 //
Hubert Vigilla[embed]220446:42876:0[/embed]
The supposed worry on the part of Warner Bros execs may extend to the creative end of things. Without getting into spoilers, Batman v Superman sets up a lot of story threads for the 2017 and 2019 Justice League films. The movie teases a major threat that puts the heroes of the DC universe in great peril, and also a major problem that potentially puts the DC heroes at a disadvantage.
Justice League starts shooting on April 11th with Snyder on to direct parts 1 and 2. It'll be interesting to see in what direction they take this story. If Dawn of Justice tries to do two or three movies worth of stuff in 2.5 hours, the Justice League films may similarly be trying to put four or five movies worth of material into just two films.
Batman v Superman also makes me wonder about Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman, two of the nine slated DC movies coming out through 2020. I wonder how the stories in those films will touch on the various elements that Dawn of Justice introduces. Ben Affleck may also be working on a solo Batman movie with writer Geoff Johns, and it makes me wonder what that will be like given the characterization of Batman in this film. It might be a couple years away given how crowded the DC movie schedule looks at the moment.
Did you see Batman v Superman over the weekend? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.
[via Coming Soon]

Biggest superhero opening of all time[UPDATE: According to The Hollywood Reporter, the total worldwide gross is actually $420.1 million. The final domestic gross for opening weekend was $166.1 million, slightly lower than the original gross estimate.]
Batman v S...

Mar 25 //
Hubert Vigilla[embed]220419:42868:0[/embed]
Batman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeDirector: Zack SnyderRating: PG-13Release Date: March 25, 2016
Zack Snyder and screenwriters David Goyer and Chris Terrio were given an impossible task with this film: make a sequel to a Superman movie that introduces Lex Luthor and also introduces Batman and that also introduces Wonder Woman and--you know what?--also sets up an entire Justice League movie and cinematic universe. So much to do in 2.5 hours, no wonder the film's such a garish and unhappy mess. The film's plot involves a kryptonite sample and experimental weapon technology. It's pretty boring, to be honest, and long stretches in the middle of the film drag. The plot is just a pretext for two superheroes to punch each other really hard.
While this is supposedly a Superman sequel (made by people who seem to dislike Superman), Dawn of Justice is more of a Batman movie (made by people who seem to dislike Superman). The film's opening credits even feature the umpteenth iteration of the Batman origin story, with Ben Affleck providing some overwrought narration that resembles the inner monologue of a moody 13-year-old boy. We then relive the destruction porn finale from Man of Steel from Bruce Wayne's point of view, driving through the city as the fight between Superman and Zod leads to the deaths of tens of thousands.
Affleck's Batman is brooding and grim, a paranoid psychotic who brands baddies with a bat symbol when he's through with them. Criminals branded with the bat are usually beaten and murdered by their fellow inmates in prison. Gone is Batman's loose "do not kill" rule, replaced with a grim, gritty, and perhaps even gleeful bloodlust. The Batman in Dawn of Justice is more like The Punisher (with a little Rorshach thrown in). Batman stabs a guy through the chest with a knife to pin him to a wall, he machine guns goons and blows them up. Batman is a straight-up killer in this movie, a widow-maker and orphan-machine. He's not particularly heroic, or at least this is not the Batman I'd want to watch movies about or read about (of course, your mileage may vary).
Superman doesn't fare much better in the heroism department, and Henry Cavill isn't given much to do but scowl while dealing with his feet of clay. Superman's trying to atone for the sins of Man of Steel (i.e., all that collateral damage), but every time he acts decisively he seems to do more harm. Superman might not always be around for everyone, and for some reason Clark Kent can't even write a simple puff peice feature about football, but any time Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is in danger, he's there in a flash. All that attention paid to his girlfriend, and yet obvious threats and dangers go by undetected. For all his high-minded moralizing, it's no wonder people think that Superman in these films is a totally arrogant jerk.
Even though she's just a supporting character, Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman is probably the only hero on screen that's actually heroic. She doesn't do much but stand around until the final battle of the film, but she's proactive in the fight, and tough, and even gives a wry smile during a break in the action as if to say, "This is why I keep fighting." It's a nice Amazonian touch in a movie that's otherwise so adolescent and boyish. Her brief interplay with Bruce Wayne seems like a Catwoman/Batman dynamic.
Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor is a villainy villain, and he plays the great criminal mind as a neurotic twerp obsessed with power and willing to do anything to seize control. Yet he's a grating presence, and some of his scenes play more like Eiseinberg's doing a take on The Joker. The sociopath is there on the surface rather than under the surface, but this is a movie about noise and extremes, so the annoyingly superficial nature of his role, like it or not, fits with the superficial mood of Dawn of Justice.
Most of the action takes place at night and resembles an ugly gray murk. Snyder keeps his camera too close to the action too much of the time, obscuring each movement into an indistinct blur. It probably plays better on a small screen, but on a big screen, it's a garbled mess. There's an exception in a kooky dream sequence mid-film that takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. During an extended take, we watch Batman, this hulking yet efficient mass of swollen delts and traps, kill people left and right using handguns and machine guns and whatever's handy. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Deathman!
But the reason people are going to Batman v Superman is for the big showdown between our heroes. The set up is built around a contrived ticking-clock scenario, and without saying too much, Superman has an easy out of actually fighting Batman if he just took a few seconds to explain the situation. Yet Superman, like Batman, is kind of a big dumb meathead, so they fight for a couple minutes, leading to a resolution so goofy I had to suppress a giggling fit when it happened.
And that's the thing about Dawn of Justice: even though it winds up taking major risks with the stories it sets up, it's ultimately silly. This is the Batman fighting Superman fan-fiction that every angsty fanboy wrote after they finished reading Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. It never aims much higher than that, and even still, it falls on its face.
This might be the most expensive movie ever made, and it's crummy fan-fiction. Warner Bros is right to be worried.

DO YOU BROOD? YOU WILL!A few weeks ago there were rumors that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice made Warner Bros execs nervous. These rumors suggested the film would be divisive, and that the movie wasn't getting the audience responses they wanted...

RetrofractionDeepwater Horizon was really good! I would probably rate it as my favorite movie this year.DwavenhobbleOh so there's already a narrative in the making that anyone who dislikes Spiderman Homecoming is merely Racist because of Black MJ. Does that mean I can call anyone who disliked Suicide Squad racist now?RetrofractionMy team that I organized and directed won best story in the IFP Phoenix 48 hour short challenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)RetrofractionI enjoyed the new Star Trek, not the best, but I think it is a very good step in the right direction and is much better than into the darkness.RetrofractionSaw the new Ghost Busters movie, it was pretty good. But I think the humor and the script needed work, it kind of dragged on toward the end.Ckervin[url="http://www.flixist.com/blogs/Ckervin/the-future-is-looking-pretty-rough--220323.phtml"]The future is looking pretty rough[/url] in these films!CkervinWell, this one will be interesting! [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGraEVNI0s[/youtube] RetrofractionWell super excited to see Hateful Eight sometime soon, but does anyone have and recommendations for some good indie films?imran haiderNiko Nikohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvXKWv4hwcNieroTesting Quickposts! You can now leave a short note on Flixist about anything, and continue/convert it to a blog later